Some dance organizations have multiple organizers that change periodically. It can be hard to keep track of what happened.
I recommend keeping a record of every incident and actions taken, so that it can be passed on to other organizers.
It is also really useful to keep track of follow-up conversations. You can find a model of such a document in the kit!
Informing your community
People are often reluctant to inform the community about what happened, and it is important to keep the anonymity of the people who endured someone’s bad behavior if they have requested it.
I am also not in favor of public shaming for bad behavior. I don’t think it’s conducive to change and growth.
However, I like to think that if a community reaches a point of permanently excluding someone, they have come to the conclusion that this person was too unsafe, and too unwilling to change, to remain in the community. I think it is therefore important to inform everyone of this decision. It will help them stay safe when interacting with this person outside the events. I recommend making a very factual public statement along the lines of “We have made the decision to permanently exclude XX because they did YYY (make sure the information doesn’t identify anyone else). While we regret having to take such drastic measures, the safety and comfort of this community is our priority. We recommend using caution around this person outside of the dance events”.
Informing other dance scenes
When a dance group decides to remove someone from their events, that person often times goes to other dance scenes and reproduces the same behavior. Other scenes are particularly vulnerable, due to the fact that they usually don’t know that person and therefore are unable to take measures to protect their own communities.
It’s also really hard for the organizers to reach out to every dance scene in their area, plus the ones that organize big exchanges. I had created a list of people who have been excluded from dance scenes, however this tool is seldomly used so it is no longer available. I am looking for large communication solutions if someone has a brilliant idea.
The tools
You’ll find a template form for the testimony here or in the kit.
If you’re a dance organizer and need to add a name to the data base, please contact me.
If you feel like the information contained in this database is erroneous or needs to be updated, you can contact me too!
If you’re an event organizer, and you want to match your attendee list to the current list, here is a google sheet template that will allow to do that. Make your own copy of that sheet. Copy and paste your attendees to the first sheet, and the latest version of the list in the second sheet. It should highlight the names that match the list.